Winter Park man convicted in Lake County internet child-sex sting

TAVARES — A 45-year-old Winter Park man, arrested during a Lake County child-sex sting, was found guilty of traveling to a vacation home in hopes of having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

A Lake County jury also found Jeff Todd Bruck guilty of attempted lewd and lascivious conduct.

He was one of 32 men arrested during "Operation Summer Nights," in which detectives had posed as children, or the parents of children, at various websites, Lake deputies said. The suspects were arrested when they arrived at a vacation rental in south Lake hoping to have sex with the children.

Bruck communicated online with an officer who was posing as the mother of a 14-year-old girl and was arrested at the vacation rental, court records show. Evidence included more than 120 email messages between Bruck and the "mother," in which Bruck discussed sexual activity with the girl.

According to testimony, he arrived at the vacation rental June 16 and told investigators that he was coming to meet the mother, though the emails said otherwise. Deputies found two boxes of condoms in his vehicle, according to court records.

He is scheduled to be sentenced by Circuit Judge Mark Nacke on July 2.